Props on Consider the Lobsters, as I believe David Fosters Wallace was quite possibly one of the smartest human beings of the past few years.

Just read Michael Lewis' (Blind Side) first book Liar's Poker from his time at Salmon Brothers on the bond trading desk. Quick easy read but not nearly as fun as Monkey Business as far as stories on Wall Street go.

Work your way up through Latin authors to the late Argentine Luis Borjes (Labyrinths) & Mexican Roberto Bolano (2666).

I'd define magic realism as different than surrealism, but Borges is a great writer and Bolano is a good one. If surrealism is the goal, the two authors I've read a lot of lately are Italo Calvino (Invisible Cities and Cosmicomics) and Haruki Murakami (Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World).

Just finished reading : The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham. It's a bit of a slow read but it's definitely a really good Fantasy series with excellent world building. One of the only series I ever read that gets better with each books. The ideas and the way they are used are top notch. IMO, a must read for every fantasy reader.

It's autofiction. It's mostly about the author's reactions to the death of a friend. Not as much a story as a journey through emotions, which Mistral seems to be able to regurgitate on a piece of paper with poetic, harsh beauty.

I've been a huge Kem Nunn fan since Unassigned Territory that I read in 1988. I just read Tijuana Straits last yr, it has lots of San Diego surfing ambiance & lore in it too.

Nunn's a great prose stylist & he's been called the quintessential SoCal fictionalist after he wrote Pomona Queen. PQ is next on my Nunn Books To Read list.

Did you watch John From Cincinnati on HBO? Nunn was a consultant for the show and his novels are a clear influence on the characters. Was a genius show for the 12 episodes HBO allowed to run before canceling it because it wasn't Deadwood and people didn't know what the **** was going on.